Whose family do
you know that includes a tango-teaching U.S. Navy submarine
officer, a Chinese actress, television producers, musicians,
athletes, a Tokyo runway model, an Egyptian oil rig worker,
an Amazonian coffee laborer and the founder of a wild animal
theme park?

The Kellogg
School family now includes these eclectic personalities among
its aspiring global business leaders. All 530 of the school’s
incoming students met their new extended family during Conceptual
Issues in Management Week 2002 (CIM, pronounced sim).

“We
have a culture here that is incredible,” said Hossam
Elbadawy ’03. “Kellogg is the only school where
people are moving together, where students feel that they
are one body. It’s a culture that invites people to
participate.”

Second-year students
led the week’s challenging team-leadership activities.
The litmus test for Kellogg spirit arrived early via a rousing
cheer-off. Each class section — from the Turkeys to
the Big Dogs — boasted its proud new identity for points
and prizes throughout the week.

The array of team-building
games and field events helped generate instant camaraderie
among the participants. “People really care about each
other at Kellogg, and in a business environment you don’t
usually get that,” said Jose Aragon ’03, formerly
an assistant professor of aerospace studies in the United
States Air Force. “In the military there was always
a cake on somebody’s birthday, if not gifts. Similarly,
at Kellogg you’re part of the greater Kellogg family.”

Dean Dipak C.
Jain offered his assessment of the Kellogg culture with an
acronym that spelled out “L-O-V-E,” referring
to the leadership, opportunities, values and ethics he said
formed the Kellogg School foundation.

“The
more you lift up the people with whom you work, the more you
also go up,” Jain told the auditorium of first-year
students. “The time has come for us to move from merely
working in teams to living in teams.”

Jain said the class
can sustain Kellogg’s acclaim while enhancing their
own skills and ability to drive excellence in the business
community. “If we can help the best companies sustain
their leadership, that is a great honor for this school,”
said the dean.

These ambitious
expectations didn’t seem out of place during a week
that was filled with passion, fellowship and anticipation
of what the new academic term would bring.

The students’
whirlwind schedules ranged from diversity and technology training
to dance parties. “Kellogg does an excellent job of
breaking down barriers quickly and helping students to feel
part of the community,” said Assistant Dean Michele
Rogers. “The hope is that we’re training people
to be leaders not just within the business realm, but leaders
in the larger community,” added Assistant Dean Fran
Langewisch. She and Rogers share the role of director for
student affairs at Kellogg.

Campbell
Soup president and CEO Douglas Conant was a keynote speaker.

The class
of 2004 also enjoyed a preview of the high-profile business
leaders who frequently visit Kellogg when Bill Brodsky, chairman
and CEO of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, delivered a
keynote speech and fielded students’ questions.

CIM Week organizers
succeeded in displaying many of Kellogg’s resources.
Top-tier faculty, staff and technology, the intellectual capital
of the alumni network, job banks, and smiling friends all
greeted new students. But these cultural benefits were not
given without certain expectations.

As emcee
Rob Zamacona ’03 told the incoming students, “You
are inheriting a legacy, but it is incumbent upon you to leave
one as well. This is now your world.”